@Russel -- is your humor detector broken? Or maybe you're just prone to taking things a little too literally? Jeff is just taking notice of the effect that SO has had in regard to improving some programmers' writing skills.
Jeff and Joel, did not create StackOverflow and friends to force anyone to improve their writing skills. They did it to make money. (If not, then why are there ads on those sites?) If Jeff notices that the sites have had unexpected beneficial side effects, and writes a slightly tongue in cheek post, with specific examples, that recognizes that effect, big deal. Don't jump the shark and assume they hatched this evil plan from the beginning to trick us all into doing something we would never have done ourselves. I know, I know--Jeff wrote that that is exactly what they did. It's called literary license. Jebus. Take a valium.
Nicely written rant, though...

I have a confession to make: in a way, I founded Stack Overflow to trick my fellow programmers. Before you trot out the pitchforks and torches, let me explain. Over the last 6 years, I've come to believe deeply in the idea that that becoming a great programmer has very little to do with progr...